Le voyage dans la Lune (1902)

TSPDT Greatest Films #449 Le voyage dans la Lune (Georges Méliès, 1902)

The grand-father of cinematic storytelling, Georges Méliès with his best film Le voyage dans la Lune is the first film discussed in the revival of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Club. A ten minutes short that influenced many filmmakers to come. Probably one of the first Science-fiction films ever filmed. It even inspired a videoclip of the unfamous band of the 1990's Smashing Pumpkins.

Méliès's film is a mix of theatrical sets and funny pursuits. His heritage of filmmaking is vast but it is probably the one of the first artist to have understand the infinite possibilities this visual medium had to offer. The Art of the 20th Century sure has evolve since then, but it's still moving images and storytelling. The technique will be more and more elaborate with the few years to come. Eisenstein will bring is editing theories and Griffith will bring the epic scale moviemaking diserved.

Méliès made his films in a time where Theater and pictures shared many storytelling techniques; the sets and the acting especially. Méliès understood how moviemaking could be a grand spectacle and that the possibilities could bring human beings way as far as far its imagination.

They Were Expendable (1945)

TSPDT Greatest Films #451 They Were Expendable (John Ford, 1945)

During the Pacific War, John Ford wanted to support the troops with the one thing he mastered the best; filmmaking. He got in the Pacific Islands with color films to shot the battles of the US Navy. The ended up being the documentary Battle of Midway on those battles that earned him a permanent title of Captain for the US Navy. The filmmaking and the storyteller he was wanted todo even more, he directed They Were Expendable. A film about the self involvement of the US Navy into this war.

As many of his Westerns, Cavalry trilogy or any genre he would approach, with success I may say, Ford shows the collective effort and family-like involvement human beings must accomplish to realize their mission. This spirit of group is even stronger here in a film about the Navy. Every character has his strenght and should use it the best he can. This is not a film made for propaganda but to commemorate and honor those men who give their lives and soul for these battles. My favorite scene in the film involves Rusty Ryan (John Wayne) and Sally Harris (Donna Reed), the moment when they go dancing and they sit on the hamac. This is a very sentimental but also very well filmed with dark lighting and beautiful shots of the couple. It shows how Ford can film battle sequences with reality but he also can create a scene that recreates a real romance.

I did knew what to expect from The Were Expendable but it goes right into one of my favorite Ford films so far. Still, there are so many I haven't watched yet that it will be too soon to make a Top list of his films. Maybe in 2011 you'll have the chance to discover this list...

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)

TSPDT Greatest Films #437 She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (John Ford, 1949)

I think I should dedicate this Blog to Westerns, lately this is the genre I've been reviewing the most... Well, I have so many Westerns to watch yet that you should be aware that this won't be the last Western reviewed here! It ain't the first either.

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon is the second part of John Ford's cavalery trilogy along with Fort Apache and Rio Grande. Many Ford regulars play it this collective Fordian classic: John Wayne, Harry Carey Jr., Ben Johnson, John Agar. The collective cast of Ford would have been complete with Ward Bond and Maureen O'Hara, just kidding 'though.

Captain Nathan Brittles (John Wayne) takes one last patrol before his retirement. This last assignment is perilous first because Indians are abonding on their way, and second because they have women aboard. His dearest wish is to make peace with the Indians and accomplish to safer the territory. This is a very Fordian film, with the collective effort of the cavalry, the Monument Valley as the background, the regular actors, and the drunk characters. It also has the typical comedic elements many Ford films present and the strong interactions between male characters, as picking each other in a very manish and friendly way. John Wayne, plays a character 20 years older than he actually is and he succeeds to make us believe in him and he is even crying a little (only time I 've seen this big log cry in a film). This is another film that extend Ford's dialogue with Cinema with his recurring auteuristic themes: the collectivity working together in an effort to create a better world for tomorrow. In She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, the world of tomorrow is today's America that the couple created in the film will build with their children and grand children. Capt. Brittles is the father figure that manages and overview with his wisdom like the old man in the Indian tribe.

Despite its annoying trumpets and saturated techinicolor, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon is one of John Ford most characteristic film. It reflects the ensemble of his rich and long oeuvre.

L'amour, l'après-midi (1972)

TSPDT Greatest Films #972 L'amour, l'après-midi (Eric Rohmer, 1972)

The final chapter of Eric Rohmer's Six Moral tales, L'amour l'après-midi, depicts a happily married man with children that gradually lower his guard in front of the many advances of an old friend. Chloe, the reappearing friend begins by simply filling Frederic's "ennui" in the afternoon. Besides, completely refusing the presence of Chloe he takes really care of her but their relationship take some predictable turns. Until the last moment Frederic feels the attraction for Chloe (a passion that will not last) but his love for his wife is so much stronger (love that can stay for his lifetime). Like the other moral tales, L'amour, l'après-midi works more on the suggestive side of things and only evokes the "cliché" always until the last moment. The dream sequence includes the three actress from the preceding moral tale, Le genou de Claire. It's a little redap of and a funny link between both films.

 

The images, from Nestor Almendros, are sublime and the many outside shots in the streets of Paris are simply beautiful. The Moral tales were made at the end of the 1960's and the beginning of the 1970's but the images don't reflect their time, they seem timeless. I wonder if Woody Allen watched those films before making Annie Hall and Manhattan, and all his other films, because we really feel that Rohmer's wrinting may probably have influenced Allen's dialogues in some way.

The Six Moral tales are a landmark not only for the French Cinema but for the History of filmmaking. In screenwriting class, every student must have seen at least one of the Six Moral tales.

Top films of Quentin Tarantino by LMdC

Quentin TARANTINO

Love him or hate him, QT is one of the most recognizable director face nowadays. His films always make noise and his knowledge of B-movies is impressive. His second feature film, Pulp Fiction, is the film that opened the gates of Cinema to me. I thought, wow, they can do that in a film, say that etc. Pulp Fiction is still one of my favorite film of all-time. Making a top list of his films may seem a little prematurated but what the heck? I've seen all his films, I'll update it when he'll direct another one...

1. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
2. Pulp Fiction (1994)
3. Kill Bill Vol.1 (2003)
4. Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004)
5. Django Unchained (2012)
6. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
7. Death Proof (2007)
8. Jackie Brown (1997)
9. Four Rooms (1994) (last segment)
10. My Best Friend's Birthday (unfinished) (1987)

Le genou de claire (1970)

TSPDT Greatest Films #385 Le genou de Claire (Eric Rohmer, 1970)

One of the most sensual offering of Eric Rohmer's Moral tales. Le genou de Claire tells the story of Jérôme, a diplomat living for a month in the villa of his family in Switzerland near the Leman Lake. He mets one of his closest friend, Aurora a writer that convinces Jérôme to flirt with Laura and then he choose by himself to extend the play or simply by his own curiosity to seduce Claire, Laura's older sister.

This film would have had never seen the light of day if it was made today. The weirdness of the relationship between Jérôme, 35 years and Laura, 16 years old gives us a little uneasiness to care for the succes of the relationship. On some level, we actually are relieve to learn that there was no attraction, but the images are still weird. The first half of the film is all about Jérôme and Laura. But when Claire appears, the sexual desire is more palpable and the shots of Claire's knee and the rest of her body too, are very sensual and attractive. The strenght of the situations is fully exploited with the fact that the viewer knows that Jérôme is strongly appealed by Claire's knee. Rohmer undresses her knees and it appears in every frame of the scenes she is in.

Like the other Rohmer films I had the opportunity to see, there are lots and lots of dialogue. French films probably earn their stereotype of being laborious on the talks because of Rohmer only. Don't read me wrong, I love this kind of blabbering that reminds me of a Woody Allen or the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset duet by Richard Linklater. On the visual level, this is by far his most beautiful film, filled with images of nature and colorful outdoors. It's fact, Rohmer loved to shot in exteriors and I think that he simply mastered those scenes.

I am ashamed to say that I am discovering Rohmer's oeuvre and I think that this is way too late after his death earlier this year. In respect I will check everyone of them and report back my thoughts on every of them.

Louisiana Story (1948)

Louisiana Story (Robert J. Flaherty, 1948)

The documentary genre is probably the least favorite of the cinephile circles. Maybe it's just my subjectivity that is talking, but I tend to think that one would prefer a good story to forget about the current day to day issues and have a good time at the movies instead of being told about environmental issues and/or the closing of ten industries. However, each time I watch a documentary I always have a good time and I always love to learn something new or to be informed on issues other than my little self. On some level, the film that will be discussed here, Louisiana Story, is a non-documentary for me. It has a story written by the Flahertys, editing and many narrative elements. Anyhow, the plot is actually so thin that I think that the images talk for themselves.

Filmed in the bayous of Louisiana and following a little boy that fishes, plays with his raccon, hunts crocodiles and make friends with the workers of the derick put in front of his home could easily described the 80 minutes film called Louisiana Story. Far from being boring, the naturalist images displayed reminded me of the National Geographic documentaries my mom made us watch on Saturday afternoons. I always loved watching the fauna and the flora like if I was in the forest watching the animals do their things and live without the presence of humans. The first part of the film shows us how the boy lives his life and how he survived before the derick came in front of his home. When the derick arrives we pratically learn how it digs at the same the boy did. He befriends with a worker called Tom. Even if he had lived all his life in nature the boy is attracted to the machines that men build. Those machines are actually destroying the elements of his bayou. The conclusion of the story would have been very different today; it would have had a stronger environmental issue about it and how it lacks in respects towards the Earth.

The cajun culture depicted in the movie is very interesting, because those people talked English but mostly French. Their accent is pretty unique and the way they lived too. It makes this document even more unique and precious. I know that the lifestyle of the cajun people has disappeared and like some languages that aren't spoken anymore they have to be documented for the generations to come.

The narrative aspects of Louisiana Story reminded me of the neorealist films of Roberto Rossellini, Stromboli especially with the sequence of the fishermans. It is also a lot like a Cinema-Vérité documentary style and the comparison with neorealism is the best I can find. Because, Louisiana Story uses some narratives and tells a simple and beautiful story. But the narrative tools are the reality of the situations and the purge of useless plot elements.

La boulangère de Monceau (1963)

La boulangère de Monceau (Eric Rohmer, 1963)

This nice little short also known as the first part of Rohmer's Six Moral Tales is told like a short story. The plot, a young man of Paris is captivated by a beautiful stranger he often met on the street. One day he decides to approach her and ask her to go out. But, their path won't cross again for a while. His life, is dedicated to the moment they will meet again, but time passes and he got bored of waiting so everyday he grabs a shortbread cookie in a little bakery. He agreeds to flirt with the little baker girl and slowly develops a relationship with her. The same day that the baker accepts a date, the stranger reappears...

Rohmer's moral tales are all narrated by the main character of each film and they have this literary feel to them. Their characters are often students or artists and the storyline is often about love and the beginning of relationships. La boulangère de Monceau is an excellent setting for the rest of the serie, it may have been your host's favorite one yet.

Obviously, this a film of the French New Wave and it feels a lot like one. The jump-cuts, the amateurish actors and the many wandering characters in many exterior scenes, well the film is set entirely in exteriors. The use of a beautiful black and white with many long and unedited shots and few multiple angles in the scenes. A trademark, or if you prefer, a trend very French New Wave. La boulangère de Monceau, has this something about it that gives you a good time and makes you ask for the following tales of Eric Rohmer.

Top films of Stanley Kubrick by LMdC

Stanley KUBRICK

This unpretentious list of the Top films by me, Michaël Parent, a Historian of Cinema and wannabe film critic, is a personnal appreciation of the films of one of the first filmmakers I had the chance and/or availability to watch all his films. This "quest" is going on for many other directors around and you will see the fruits of these personnal quests through the reviews and tops to be posted here on Le Mot du Cinephiliaque.

Feel free to click on the links of the films from the top, they lead you to the so-called review of the film.

1. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
2. The Shining (1980)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
4. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
5. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
6. Paths of Glory (1957)
7. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
8. Barry Lyndon (1975)
9. Killer's Kiss (1955)
10. The Killing (1956)
11. Spartacus (1960)
12. Lolita (1962)
13. Day of the Fight (1951)
14. Fear and Desire (1953)
15. Flying Padre (1953)
16. The Seafarers (1953)

El Dorado (1966)

TSPDT Greatest Films #841 El Dorado (Howard Hawks, 1966)

"Hired gunman Cole Thornton (John Wayne) turns down a job with Bart Jason as it would mean having to fight an old sheriff friend. Some months later he finds out the lawman is on the bottle and a top gunfighter is heading his way to help Jason. Along with young Mississippi (James Caan), handy with a knife and now armed with a diabolical shotgun, Cole returns to help."

Another review of another Western. The Western genre has been one of the most popular since the early days of American films. Losing some of its glare in the 1980's and the 1990's with the financial failure of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate in 1980 it never reached out as strong as it was in the first half of the 20th century. This failure not only scared producers to do big budget Westerns but also closed the door that auteurism American Cinema had wide open in the 1970's. Some of the greatest films of contemporary Cinema were made in the 1970's, just look at this critics' favorite picture of all time Taxi Driver.

A great cast of actors: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan and a great director Howard Hawks makes this oftenly underapreciated film an intrying film to look forward to. I had low expectations when I sat to watch El Dorado: I never heard much praised about it and I was afraid to constantly compare it to Hawks' masterpiece, Rio Bravo. Well, both films have many similarities but which Hawks' picture hasn't some to the other? Look at the relationships between the male characters, strong friendships. The woman's names are often masculinized: Josephine is called Joey. It has John Wayne in it... Well, one can go on easily for a long time.

In a way, Hawks repeats himself and mostly retells a classic Western story with Hawksian characters in a Hawksian world. But in another way, he is one of Cinema's greatest storyteller, and this world is very interesting. Moreover, the ride may seem the same as another one but this is still a great ride. El Dorado, takes you on the path of real men, loyal men and sensible men too (talking in a very John Wayne way of things).

To understand its lack of popularity we have to look back at the context when the film came out in 1967, an Italian cult classic Western came out The Good, the Bad and the Ugly refreshing and revisionning the genre. The conservatism of El Dorado may have been a succes to older audiences but the visual extravaganza of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was very appealing and brought something new and a new star to the genre. The liberalism of the Sergio Leone picture was of its time and the right-wing El Dorado/Hawks/Wayne didn't help on a political ground. The end of the 1960's was a decade of changes, politically, socially and Cinema (the reflection of reality) changed too. The old guard was giving its last films and the new guard just wanted to take all the place on the screens all over the world. New Waves were emerging everywhere and new names like Arthur Penn, Sergio Leone, Jean-Luc Godard, Mike Nichols, Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, and many more were coming to remplace the old "farts"(read this with respect to all these pioneers and masters) that were losing touch gradually John Ford, Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, Nicholas Ray, Robert Wise, etc.

With a step back El Dorado is an interesting film in Howard Hawks' filmography and fits perfectly in this oeuvre watched as a whole. I still have Hatari! as one of my personal favorites but I still need to see many of his films before really stepping my foot down defenitely.